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Secondary Characters and the Supernatural (Theory)
An essay by Ashley Miller and Bill Burris In Gothic novels there is always a sense of the supernatural. It is usually represented in such a way to show that the past is haunting the future. There is always a sense that wrongs in the past will come back to affect not only the person that committed the crime but also members of their family. This usually represents itself in a ghost or specter that shows itself to the main protagonist in an attempt to warn them that the same crime will be committed against them. This occurrence usually occurs in the second half of the novel and usually happens even later than that. Until that point, the supernatural usually only shows itself to secondary characters. Why does the supernatural care about these characters? Why don’t the ghosts appear to the main character, usually a heroine? Why put such important events on characters that the reader would barely remember and, more importantly, only associates with servitude? That is what this mini-essay hopes to answer. Theory The theory that this article wants to argue is that the supernatural has to first associate with secondary characters as a way to get the main character to believe in the supernatural. If this is to be true, then that means that the main protagonist does not believe in supernatural occurrences at the beginning of the novel. They are resistant to the idea that there are actually ghosts of long since wronged characters that are trying to get across a warning to the character. They will act condescending to the secondary character that believes they have seen an agent of the supernatural and will call them “childish” or “foolish”. Since the main character is always hesitant to believe in the supernatural, the supernatural reveals itself to the secondary character. There are several characteristics that make the secondary character especially perceptible to ghostly specters. They are usually not the most intelligent character in the novel. They are poor meaning they have no education. They will have no knowledge of science that gets in the way of believing in the supernatural. Secondly, they are usually the stock character where they are overly nice and trusting of everyone. This makes them the kind of trusting person that would believe that a ghost is actually a ghost instead of someone walking around outside. Lastly, they would have lived their entire lives in a foreboding castle with no chance of real escape. They would have been scared, if not terrified, of the demanding tyrant of the castle. This fear and oppression would have worn on their psyche to the point that they would have believed in ghosts because if a master could be terrifying and real, why couldn’t a ghost be real. What is the importance of characterizing stock characters like this? Well, it all comes back to how the main protagonist is portrayed. The protagonist is skeptical of supernatural occurrences in the beginning of the novel. Keeping in mind that the protagonist is usually a Heroine of Sensibility gradually learning to live by the conduct book ideal, the character has to grow into the perfect representation of a woman during that time. The Gothic heroine cannot start off being perfect (like you see in Pamela or Evelina). She has to start off imperfect, and through time spent in a castle being chased around, she will grow. That is where the secondary character gains its importance. The secondary character allows the main character to be constantly surrounded by supernatural stories or occurrences until the time when they are finally ready to believe in ghosts or specters. Their seeming dullness and superstitious natures, while criticized in the beginning of the novel, will actually serve them well at the end of the book and they will be proven to have been correct. Evidence The Mysteries of Udolpho is one of the major works that backs up this idea that secondary characters are vital to the supernatural occurrences that haunt Emily. On page 247, Annette, a servant in the castle and subsequently a secondary character, believes not only the castle to be haunted but her room in particular to inhabit a ghost. During this scene, Annette is describing her fears to an unbelieving Emily. Annette turns pale when the door shuts and locks itself. Being superstitious, Annette believed that a ghost had to be responsible for this happening. Emily, who at this point did not put any credence into the idea of the supernatural, condescended her for her foolish notions. “Annette, ˜look at that lamp, see how blue it burns!” She looked fear-fully round the chamber. ˜Ridiculous girl!” said Emily, “why will you indulge those fancies” (Radcliff 237). This shows that Annette, a secondary character, did truly believe in ghosts and that the main protagonist, Emily, did not. But the theory that we are suggesting is that it takes time to wear down the main character into a time when they will believe in the supernatural. Emily is on her way to truly being full of sensibility and; therefore, able to sense things as they truly are- meaning the supernatural. This same kind of thing involving Annette happens again in volume 9 to hammer home the point that Emily still has a way to go to become superstitious and become the true hero of sensibility. In Chapter 12 of Volume 3, Emily is staying in a cabin with Dorothee (who was introduced not too long, relatively, before this scene happened. She is a minor character). Dorothee once lived in the same castle that Emily did, but being a secondary character and being superstitious, she was particularly acute in noticing the supernatural. That is why she leaves the castle, because she is afraid of the ghosts and other otherworldly occurrences that she experienced there. One of the more peculiar and showing scenes where Emily does not believe in the supernatural but is oddly drawn to the superstition of the secondary characters is the Sea Nymph story. Emily, listening with surprise and attention, distinguished the following invocation delivered in the pure and elegant tongue of Tuscany, and accompanied by a few pastoral instruments. a Sea Nymph . . . The last words being repeated by the surrounding group, the garland of flowers was thrown into the waves, and the chorus, sinking gradually into a chant, died away in silence. "What can this mean, Maddelina?" said Emily, awakening frm the pleasing trance, into which the music had lulled her. This is the eve of a festival, Signora," replied Maddelina; "and the peasants then amuse themselves with all kinds of sports." "But they talked of a sea-nymph," said Emily: "How came these good people to think of a sea-nymph?" "O, Signora," rejoined Maddelina, mistaking the reason of Emily's surprise, "nobody believes in such things, but our old songs tell of them, and, when we are at our sports, we sometime sing to them, and throw garlands into the sea" (Radcliff 420). Emily is suspicious and does not truly believe that people would believe in sea nymphs. Maddelina tells her that they do not believe such things, but tradition says these things. It must be obeyed. This leads to the idea that superstition runs in families and is not really a singular occurrence for secondary characters. A fear or respect for the supernatural is engrained in these people for generations. That means that the protagonist has to learn to respect these things on their own and start their own line of people who believe in the supernatural. In Chapter 9 of Volume 3, Emily muses on the supernatural. She thinks it is foolish and thinks herself better than believing in such things. Then she thinks back. She remembers the veil and her father’s letter to her. She instantly gets nervous because that is what all good heroines of sensibility do. But then she starts to question her beliefs on the supernatural- maybe there really are ghosts. Several hundred pages into the book after numerous situations where she is confronted with people who believe in the supernatural, she finally gains enough of her sensibility to believe in things that do not make sense and accepts the supernatural that is in the castle. In Edmund John Eyre’s The Fatal Sisters, the main characters (Athold and Elvira) have no idea what the supernatural is that keeps being referenced in the play. They have never been to the Black Tower and are unaware of the stories that surround the tower. But the tyrant, Ferrand, keeps referencing its horrors. It is up to two secondary characters, Edwy and Juletta, to verify that there truly are terrors or horror in the tower and that they should be scared. Juletta, a secondary heroine, is also the only character to actually speak with the ghosts in the play. All of this leads the main characters to believe that they really are in danger, and they would not have known it if it was not for superstitious secondary characters. Conclusion It is clear that there are many different uses for secondary characters in these novels. They warn and try to stop people from doing bad things. They progress the plot by letting characters in on information that they would not have normally had access to otherwise. But more importantly, their superstition and belief in the supernatural allows the supernatural to remain present in the novels until the point when the main characters finally believe in ghosts and have a use for the supernatural. All of this relates back to the idea that the protagonists, while well-meaning, are not perfect like the characters start out like in books like Pamela. They need time to grow into their sensibility and; therefore, their willingness to accept the supernatural. This is why secondary characters are so important- they provide a continual circumstance where the main character is immersed in stories of the supernatural until the point where they accept it. Books used: The Fatal Sisters by Edmund John Eyre Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliff Category:Miscellaneous Category:Plot Device Category:Theory Category:The Fatal Sisters